01

What it is going to take is sitting still, being quiet. We find in the silence all we need to meet the moment, moment by moment, in each situation as it arises, all our life long. Sitting in the silence-- being able to sit in the silence-- means emptying ourselves of all the noise in our life. Noise is an inside job. Silence is also an inside job. In order to be quiet, we have to quieten the noise within. Start with the source. All of the noise within has it's origin in our orientation and our philosophy and our driving motivation. Our entire culture is driven, pushed, shoved, compelled by the My Way NOW!!! craze. We fume and boil upon the raging sea and the heaving waves of the My Way NOW!!! craze. We are consumed with having our way, and with other people not having their way, and the very idea that those people over there are doing their best to have their way and trying to keep us from having our way, and how those people over there won't let us have our way at all, and what we have to do to get our way at last! And keep it safe and secure forever! Sit still, be quiet, and watch how all of this begins to churn and roll within. We have to empty ourselves of having our way before we can be open to the silence. It is not the only thing. Having our way is at the heart of all we do, but it is concealed in ways that make it invisible and undetectable. It is the operative force behind Fear/Desire/Duty, the Big Three hindrances of both the Buddha under the Bo Tree, and of Jesus in the wilderness. It all starts there for each of us. Sitting still, being quiet brings up Fear, Desire, and Duty, with having our way being the central feature of each one. We have to empty ourselves of it all. Nothing changes until we are empty. Empty even of wanting things to change. You are looking for a much quicker fix than this, which makes this good-bye in all likelihood-- so, mind how you go, and may you come to realize that what you are looking for is not what you need.
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02

What are you living for? What are you serving with your life? Keep those questions in mind as I pivot to these: What is your driving motivation? What fuels your way through each day? And to these: What ignites your energy? What inflames your enthusiasm? In what ways are your answers to these questions connected? Would your answers to these questions, including the last one, be obvious to anyone observing your life?